“I would love to join, BUT I probably couldn’t keep up with you guys.”

“I don’t have one of those fancy bikes.”

“Thanks, but I have so much more to lose.”

“Have I reminded you lately that I’m not fast?”

I have heard it a million times from my husband, gently correcting me and telling me how proud he is of me; that I am “doing fantastic.” I hear it from my guy friends that I always worry only run with me to humor me; “you’re doing great.” But something about being called out by a coach you really respect hit me like a lightning bolt. He did it so perfectly, so respectfully, but in a way that told me that he was serious and not just humoring my lack of self-confidence.

“Let’s remove that limiting language. You’re going with the flow, so just enjoy the journey and see where it takes you.”

“Limiting language.” Wow, I hadn’t heard it that way before. It’s always been “don’t be so hard on yourself.” Which, let’s be real, is code for “stop it, you’re fine, insert gratuitous comment and eye roll here.”

I’m a slow learner and it’s take a few weeks for this to sink in, but I see it everywhere now. I have observed it in almost every interaction I have had. I am constantly limiting myself by subconsciously telling myself that I’m not enough. I see it in all of my friends, too. We are always putting ourselves down in that stealthy way and we shouldn’t be. We like to think that we are telling ourselves that we are enough, but then that little demon that sits on the left shoulder whispers in our ear the complete opposite. It whispers those stupid words: ONLY, JUST, BUT.

When we limit our language, we limit what we are capable of.

Enough! I am making the commitment to stop my limiting language NOW. I am proud of what I can accomplish. I am not in competition with anyone, not even myself. I am not who I was yesterday, three months ago, or three years ago. I am choosing to live in the present and find the joy and satisfaction in doing exactly what my body, and my mind, allows today. It doesn’t mean I don’t have goals. On the contrary! But by releasing myself from the chains of “not enough,” I will build a far better foundation with which to reach those goals because I will have the confidence that I CAN.

*****

So my challenge to all of my girlfriends – remove your limiting language and let your truths shine on their own merit. Own it all and be joyous in what your body can accomplish today, because seriously, we are all doing truly epic stuff.

When we last spoke, I had finished the first of three half marathons in fifteen days. I still think I’m kind of silly for doing this many races in three weekends, but it’s been a fun ride so far. For the record, I am already a Half Fanatic, so I can’t say this is any sort of challenge or bucket list item. I’m just truly certifiable sometimes. I am really susceptible to the whims of my running buddies (seriously, I signed up to run a full marathon two years ago because Kathy said “it will be fun and have you seen the size of that medal???”). But I digress; so without further ramblings, my race recap of the Divas Half Marathon. And maybe a few other ramblings. LOL

Along the seawall on Saturday.

When Marcy and I signed up for the half marathon in Galveston, Texas in April, it was likely somewhere in the twenty degree range in Dallas and we were on day three of icepocalypse. I blame the cabin fever, but we just didn’t even consider the likely heat and humidity of running on the Gulf of Mexico. Or maybe I can blame the blinding light of the tiara I was promised or the hotties that would be at the finish line waiting??? But no matter what, Marcy and I have run a couple hundred miles this spring with our eyes on a PR in Galveston… and a girl’s weekend.

There are a bunch of hotels on the island, but they tend to be pretty pricey. Add a race full of women and the hotels booked up fast. Marcy and I were able to get a nice hotel on the beach for about $225, which is about average. It was about six miles from the race start and finish line, but parking is quite plentiful in the Strand, so it didn’t seem like a big deal to be that far away. And parking ranged from $5-7 per day.

Officially a cheap date – one margarita and I’m riding the carousel horse in front of the restaurant…

We got to the Expo early Saturday afternoon. The expo was a lot smaller than I envisioned, but it was packed. Getting our bibs and shirts was very efficient. Marcy and I then worked our way through the vendor tables and picked up a couple of new shoe charms and other goodies. I mentally made a note that the space was about the size of the expo we put on for the DRC Half in November, but it felt so much more crowded and

claustrophobic. It was good to see that the layout makes all the difference because I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

Marcy and I spent the afternoon after the expo just wandering through the Strand, walking along the seawall and the beach, and enjoying a banana margarita. A BANANA MARGARITA! This is ingenious… a girl needs potassium and salt to ward off calf cramps during the race, right??? This seems like a win-win. 😉 We spent the evening at a big group dinner at the Fisherman’s Wharf with the other Divas from Dallas Running Club. It was a complete blast being able to hang out with such great friends. But the time came for us to hit the hay if we were going to do this race in the morning.

Pre-race dinner with DRCDivas!

Ready to run!

Race morning was glorious. We were all decked out in our skirts and pink flowers and met in the Wave 2 corral. I felt bad for the announcer because he had a really tough job to do. Convincing thousands of women to get in their corrals because the race was starting in “three minutes” was a lot like herding cats. A quick pre-race picture was an order and then in was time to run. Marcy and I took off at the pace we were targeting for a PR, but three and a half miles in, we knew it was not

Look who we saw along the seawall? One of our adoring fans!

going to happen. We could see the seawall ahead and there was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was already climbing rapidly and sweat was dripping from us already. I looked down at my Garmin and my heart rate was 180! This was not good. We made the decision to walk briskly until the rest of the group caught up to us and then we would finish with them. My only goal for the morning was to cross that finish line with a smile on my face, ready to run another day. The decision was declared a smart one when we passed by three different girls that were on the ground in pain or dealing with heat exhaustion, waiting for medics. I just didn’t want that to be how my race ended and the heat was definitely a factor. As we walked, we

Priscilla’s first “Mile 10”!

discussed taking this show on the road internationally (Paris, baby!) and everything else under the sun. Sunny, Suzanne, Denise and the others caught up to us as we left East Beach and we began running again. One of Suzanne’s friends from college, Priscilla, was with the group and running her very first half. She hadn’t run double digits before, so we had to take pictures at the mile markers and generally enjoy the morning.

For the most part, the water stops were plentiful and well stocked. The volunteers encouraged people to take two waters, one to drink and one to cool down with by dumping it on our heads and backs, which really helped with the humidity. We finally made it to mile 13, where we went through the tiara and boa

Ready for the finish line

station and could see the finish line ahead. Champagne and hotties with medals awaited us at the finish line (seriously, I’m really not one to go for a race with firemen waiting for us, but dang they were cute!). The weird part was the food tent was a block away, so it seemed kind of disjointed.

This is a race that is clearly focused on women and caters to a lot of first-time half marathoners. The course time limit is generous at 4 hours and allows you to completely walk the entire race should you choose to do so. There were definitely some fast women (but when they passed us by, my smile was far bigger than theirs) and there were about a dozen men that had great senses of humor and wore tutus to run with the divas. The only downside to the race was the drive back to Dallas when it was over – I so didn’t want this weekend to end! Overall, I enjoyed the race. I don’t typically like the big national events from for-profit entities because I’m more a fan of the underdog, the little races put on by local non-profits – they are important. But this race was really fun and I would definitely do it again. Especially with my divas!

Thirteen hot, sweaty miles done!

As this was also the weekend of the Boston Marathon (I know a lot of fast friends, lol), this was also a “virtual” run through Skirt Sports to honor women’s running. They have a campaign called 261fearless because Kathrine Switzer was the first female to register and run Boston and her race number was 261. Because she had used her initials when registering, it wasn’t discovered that she was female until mid-race and the pictures of her being bullied off the course by a race director are iconic still today. I began reading her book, Marathon Woman, last week and will give more thoughts on the issue soon, but let’s just say I am blown away by her courage and the courage of all the women runners back in the 60s and early 70s that dared to buck convention and pave the way for all of us to push our own limits physically and mentally. Every race we do honors what she stood for that day in Boston.

Next stop: Des Moines for the National RRCA Convention and the Hy-Vee Drake Half Marathon!

Dallas is a pretty great place to be a runner. We can race every single weekend of the year with our choice of almost any distance. I have never had a need or desire to run a virtual race. The theory is that once you are supposed to run your chosen distance within a certain time period and you will earn the medal. It’s completely on the honor system and, of course, there are no timed results memorialized. When a group of running friends posted on Facebook about doing the “Beat the Blerch” Virtual Half Marathon, I figured I would jump right in. I mean, who wouldn’t want to participate in a race that filled up within minutes? I just so happen to have a 14 mile training run on the plan the weekend of the actual race, so it seems like a perfect little fit. So, I paid my money and waited for the package to arrive.

The “Beat the Blerch” Marathon spawned from the a comic about running, The Oatmeal. The Blerch is that demon that runs with us all. The ones that tells us we are too slow, too fat, too lazy, too whatever. It gives us all the excuse we need to quit. But when we run, we are able to quiet the Blerch.

My race package came today! There were a bunch of goodies including a dry-fit shirt, a race bib, a squeezie Blerch, a bunch of stickers and a magnet, a medal and – get this – CUPCAKE LIP BALM! Do they know me or what? Of all the items, I plan on putting my little Blerch on my office desk tomorrow morning and I’ve already torn into the lip balm. **Note to self – I must figure out how to get this cupcake flavored lip balm as a giveaway for the DRC Half if Vishal won’t let us have cupcakes at the mile 11 water stop… 😉 **

Cupcake lip balm!!! Are you kidding me??

I’m super excited for my running friend Rachel, who will be in Washington in a couple of weeks to run the real race. The weather should be beautiful for her. I, on the other hand, will be pounding out 14 miles here in the Dallas heat with the rest of my running buddies, but sporting my awesome lip balm.